


The Closet Psychic

by GlitterFairy_21225



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: 10, :(, Alvin Marsh Being an Asshole, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Gay Richie Tozier, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, No Smut, Out Richie Tozier, Psychic Abilities, Richie Tozier Gets Taken Instead of Beverly Marsh, Richie Tozier Has Powers, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Good Friend, Richie Tozier is a Mess, The Losers Club All Appear (IT), Wordcount: 10.000-30.000, but fuck that freak, he's barely there, stan doesn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23055298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterFairy_21225/pseuds/GlitterFairy_21225
Summary: "Hey." Richie asks Stan one day when no one else is around. "Do you- do you ever feel like....""Like what?" Stan asks."Like you just know things." Richie says.Stan looks at him strangely. He's trying to figure Richie out. "What kinds of things?""Like.... people. Like, what other people are thinking, or feeling." He elaborates, trying to find the right words to describe himself.XXXIn 1989 it's Richie who is kidnapped by Pennywise and put in the deadlights. Staying in Derry afterwards, Richie begins to develop.... differences. Like psychic abilities.Richie is a psychic.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, The Losers Club & Richie Tozier
Comments: 16
Kudos: 290





	The Closet Psychic

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I feel like somebody's gonna think I'm comparing hiding psychic abilities you got from being kidnapped by an alien clown to hiding the sexuality you were born with. I'm not. I'm just not.

When Richie Tozier is thirteen years old, he leaves the arcade running for his life, his heart racing as he fails to outrun the Bowers Gang. He's jumped, beaten and bruised for all he's worth. They call him names, and the worst part is that they're names that are true. A knife is pointed at his neck and Bowers says something threatening, but all Richie can hear is the names ringing in his ears.

He just wanted to play another round.

So what if the way the other boy smiled at him put butterflies in his stomach? Richie didn't ask to be queer.

They leave him in a ditch, broken and utterly alone. No one is going to look for him. Not his parents, not the arcade boy, and certainly not the friends who all hate him. In a distance he hears the sound of laughter, as if this is all some funny joke.

He can't see too well, his glasses in shambles, and his eyes hard to keep open, but it's hard to miss a clown screaming in your face?

And then he passes out.

When he wakes up, it's to the feeling of blood dripping on his face. His glasses are missing, and so he just kind of wanders around the grayish surroundings, nearly blind.

He looks up, and all he sees are dark blurbs hanging in the sky. Richie doesn't know what they are, but he knows enough to know he has to get the fuck out of there. The clown attacks before he can. He tries to run, tries to escape but is caught before he can.

He hears a sniff. "Delicious."

Richie screams but the clown opens his mouth, and suddenly his vision is clearer as yellow orbs take over him, and all goes blank.

In the deadlights, he sees terrible, terrible things. He sees Beverly, falling for toxic man after toxic man until finally one beating goes too far. He sees Stan, terrified as he takes his own life in his own bathroom. He sees Ben, ridiculously attractive and yet so insecure forcing himself to throw up in order to find someone who loves him before reality ensues. He sees Mike, downtrodden and defeated and finally leaving their hellhole town before becoming the target of a hate crime. He sees Bill caught up in a studio fire, sacrificing himself to save his wife. He sees himself, completely out of it and bottle in hand as he finally drinks himself to death. He sees Eddie, dolled up on meds he doesn't need trying to drive, distracted by his wife and frustrated by other drivers before finally crashing.

And then Richie sees something else. He sees all of them, together again. All seven, all grown up and gloriously alive. They fight It. They work together. Richie doesn't understand everything they're saying. Doesn't understand the meaning behind their actions, but he understands that that monster is going down.

And then he feels a pair of lips crashing against his. Richie gasps, his sight returning to the blur.

His kisser pulls back, and- _Eddie?!_

"Thank god!" Eddie throws his good arm around him, holding him tight.

They're soon joined by all of their friends, turning it into a group hug. Richie doesn't complain, haunted by the memory of his friends dying. It's as though he can feel the worry and relief radiating off of them, and Richie has never been more grateful to be with his friends.

They defeat the clown, Richie getting a moment of revenge for both his problems. He tells Bill off, feeling victorious as he sees the regret in his eyes, and then continues to beat the shit out of Pennywise. Together the Losers Club defeats It.

Even as they go to the quarry to celebrate, Richie can sense that their story is not done yet, just done for now.

"We were all old. Like, old enough to be boring and care about bedtimes and shit. I guess it's that twenty-something years thing." He tells them. Richie intentionally leaves out any mention of their deaths.

"Twenty seven years." Ben nods.

"What did I look like?" Stan asks, and all Richie can see is blood dripping from his wrist.

"Like a dumbass." He covers his feelings.

Bill makes them all promise to come back to Derry and fight Pennywise if It ever comes back. Richie cuts his hand with glass and when nightmares attack in the night he finds comfort stroking the scar, reminding himself that they all promised.

Life goes on, they all start school in the fall. Richie finally works up the courage to ask Eddie about that kiss.

"I was just trying to do CPR." Eddie shrugs. Richie doesn't know why, and maybe it's just wishful thinking, but Richie thinks it's bullshit, but doesn't say so. Just his stupid queer crush taking over him.

Still, Richie can sense the confusion in Eddie as he brushes off his own actions. He himself is unsure why he did it, and so Eddie just went to the most sensible conclusion.

But when Richie thinks to himself how he came to that conclusion, he comes up with a blank. Nothing about Eddie's composure would suggest that. He's just imagining things. Non-platonic things.

As the school year goes on, Richie goes on just imagining things. He's never been more aware of how annoyed he makes the other people around him, but also never been more aware of how much his friends and family actually do love him.

When his father makes him help clean out the attic, Richie ends up saving his mother's lost engagement ring, an old family heirloom, and his old teddy bear Granola.

One day Richie and Bev share a smoke, and all he can feel is the toxins and crap destroying his lungs, but he's trying to be normal but it's too hard. So instead he scoots closer to her, but that only makes things worse.

Richie feels _bad_. He feels nervous and afraid and alone, and he doesn't know why. He feels watched and exposed and betrayed. What brought this on?

"Richie?" Bev asks in concern. "You okay?"

He doesn't answer, suddenly feeling sweaty. His hand grasps her shoulder and he feels nausea wash over him. He pushes her away and throws up.

His friends call his mother to pick him up, but by the time they get to his neighborhood he feels better. A lot better. He can't explain.

"Must have been something you ate." Mom frets, putting a hand on his forehead. Richie feels her worry, but also her confusion. "You feel fine."

He feels something else. Love, Richie knows. His mother loves his so much. He can feel it seeping through her touch, just like he felt all that sickness from Bev's touch.

 _Oh_. It wasn't his feelings, it was Bev's.

What?

The thought is stupid, and impossible, and yet it creeps into his mind every time a moment like that happens. He tries to fight it. Withdrawals physically from his friends. Tries to avoid their touch. He's still their best friend, but he'll also be the first to take a seat away from a crowded couch. Richie let's Eddie have full reign over their hammock, and though Eddie says it's a good thing, a brush of hands tells Richie that's bullshit.

And soon enough, he doesn't even need to touch others to know what they're feeling, if he has his attention is on someone, Richie just knows.

When a teacher for once in his or her life actually has good intentions, Richie knows. When one of his friends is sad but trying to hide it, Richie tries to cheer him or her up. When Bev's life falls apart, Richie is the only one who sees.

And that is where he crosses the line. He steals a book from her bag, then goes to her house under the guise of trying to return it. Bev is quick to try to get him to leave, but he feels the pain this place causes her.

Richie sneaks back in again, when he gets a 'hunch' no one will be there. Feeling around the place he feels the torture her father puts her through, the way Mr. Marsh touches places no father should ever put on his child, the fear and hopelessness consuming his friend, and breaks down in tears. But then his gut tingles and he leaves, and Richie gets a feeling that he more than likely just avoided getting caught. And that no one suspects anything out of the ordinary when he isn't.

He puts an anonymous tip, finds a list of social service agents, and puts it into the name he feels can do the most to help his friend. Tells him Tells him to go at a time he feels only Bev might be home, and to look in the cabinet next to the couch, where Richie was drawn to but didn't dare to open.

Mr. Marsh is taken to jail for possession of child pornography, Bev is taken from her home and placed with her Aunt in Portland. It's devastating for everyone, and Richie has to feel it. In part he blames himself for that but he also feels the relief exuding from Beverly and doesn't regret it.

Still doesn't make it any better when she has to say goodbye to Ben and Bill.

Richie has never been very in to girls. But if he did, he can't imagine love would be any easier, at least not when he looks at Bev and Bill.

Richie takes one look at her with both Ben and Bill, and understands everything about their relationship. Ben's love for her is based off of her kindness, he cares for her because of what she did and loves her for the best parts of her.

Bev herself is conflicted, desperate to be loved, but looking for it in the wrong places. She's the girl and Bill is the leader. One or two misunderstandings in their favor and badda-bing badda-boo, they think they're in love.

And yeah, there are feelings there, but they both seem to think those feelings are stronger than they are.

Richie understands what it's like to be frustrated with love.

Especially when he feels the desire Eddie has for him when he takes his clothes off to swim. Fuck.

"Hey." Richie asks Stan one day when no one else is around. "Do you- do you ever feel like...."

"Like what?" Stan asks.

"Like you just know things." Richie says.

Stan looks at him strangely. He's trying to figure Richie out. "What kinds of things?"

"Like.... people. Like, what other people are thinking, or feeling." He elaborates, trying to find the right words to describe himself.

Stan thinks for a second. "About me?"

"Yeah!" Richie grins, hoping he's not so weird after all. "And also about just everything in general, but yeah about me."

Stan smile softly, but Richie already knows they're not on the same page. "I think that's normal. Or at least I hope so. I always feel like everyone else thinks I'm weird, or is judging me or something. But my mom says that most people are too focused on their own issues to be thinking about me."

Richie nods, not wanting to admit that it's something more than teen angst bullshit. That there's something about him fundamentally different than literally every other person in the world. And not the gay thing.

Because Richie knows for a fact that he's not the only one in Derry.

It's everywhere. Well, maybe not everywhere, but it's enough for him. Whether it be the constant thing on somebody's mind or repressed to the point of oblivion, Richie's not alone. He feels it in the way a popular cheerleader might play with her hair and wish to chop it off. He see it in the love two old men playing chess in the park everyday share for one another, despite never saying anything about it. He sees it a cranky teacher, and in a kindhearted milkman. Richie's not alone, he's just the only person who knows he's not alone.

Richie considers telling them that they have each other, but he doesn't even want to think about the fallout, the consequences.

He also feels it when he touches Eddie's skin. Feels love- love for him. It kind of makes Richie want to burst with happiness, but even that turns bitter quickly. Richie knows Eddie doesn't know exactly what he's feeling. If Richie were to act on his feelings, Eddie might not be able to reciprocate, even if he really does have feelings.

They don't live in a place where they can be happy. That's just how it is. Richie feels the hate in the hearts of those around them. He knows how hard it would be to hide an entire relationship and makes the sacrifice to keep their mutual feelings a secret, even from Eddie.

Oh how Richie wishes he could just love in the way that doesn't offend anyone else's precious feelings.

On a sleepover when they're sixteen years old, they share a bed, and he lets his bare hand rest on Eddie's arm almost experimentally. Before the Deadlights he would have draped himself over his friends with no issue, but now he senses the surprise in his friend even if Eddie does his best to hide it. Richie lets the hand drift down to Eddie's wrist. When he closes his eyes he still thinks about the vision of Eddie getting killed in that car crash. Blood running down his face and over his lifeless eyes.

But in that moment he also feels what Eddie feels for him- the affection, the loving annoyance, and the deep love that tells Richie that he can trust him.

"You remember when I used to have like, no personal space?" He whispers in the dead of night.

He feels Eddie's surprise. Eddie snorts. "Yeah, I don't miss it." Lie.

"I have a secret..." Richie fully intends to tell him everything right then and there. To spill about what he saw in the Deadlights, about his nightmares, and how many secrets Richie knew but said nothing about. But he waits one second too long and his bravery dies before he can.

Eddie can tell he's lost his nerve. He shifts his hand so that he's holding onto Richie's. "Dude, you know you can get tell me anything."

He believes him. Richie has no choice but to accept this for fact, feeling the-the unconditionality in the love Eddie feels for him, but not quite being able to bring himself to believe it.

"I-I lie about things sometimes. About certain parts of me that aren't so normal." Richie tries to explain. "I-I know how I am, but I guess I do kind of want to be normal, you know?"

"I guess." Eddie frowns. "You know you don't have to. I love you because you're not normal, Richie. I wouldn't change a thing about you if I could. Except for the mom jokes. Those are fucking horrible, Trashmouth."

Richie smiles softly. God, he loves the boy in front of him. It's not fair. They both love each other, and yet due to people who have no business getting up in their relationship they can't be together. But _God_ , in this moment, skin to skin with the boy he loves, he lets his own desire take over him.

He leans forward, kissing Eddie softly. First he feels his own heartbeat, the joy spreading in his body. Then he feels Eddie's heart skip a beat (metaphorically), but it doesn't last. All too soon it turns wrong. He can feel the confusion and fear take him over all too quickly.

Eddie jerks back.

"Richie!" Eddie says in shock, fear in his eyes, and Richie can hear Sonia Kaspbrak's voice saying words she never said in Richie's prescence. _Stay away from the boys who touch other boys, Eddie-Bear. They're not natural. They'll give you diseases._

 _No. No, don't say anything._ Richie frantically thinks _. I didn't mean to ruin things. Can you just forget about this? I want to go back. I want you to forget._

He waits for the reckoning, fully expects it. But that's when he feels as Eddie's fear calms back to normal.

"Richie?" Eddie asks, his voice laced with uncertainty that he's very much feeling. "You okay?"

And then- confusion. Normal, not terrified, not disgusted confusion. Richie blinks at him. "Eddie?"

"You look like you're about to shit yourself." Eddie says, and there's a little concern, a little worry, but nothing like he was feeling a few moments ago.

"I- what?" Richie says incoherently. "Eds... Are you.... What?"

"What are you talking about?"

Richie blinks, realization crashing over him. "... I'm sorry, I must have zoned out man. What were we saying?"

"Nothing." Eddie answers. "I was trying to sleep when you started looking like you were freaking out. Seriously Richie, you good?"

"I'm good, Eddie Spagetti."

Eddie... Forgot? No, Richie made Eddie forget what he did.

Richie immediately decides not to do anything with that information. He's too selfish to try and undo his action, but he refuses to ever do anything like that again. For the first time ever Richie realizes just how powerful having powers made him. He took a moment out of Eddie's head and now it was like it never happened.

It gives Richie serious control over those around him, and he hates it. He doesn't want to force those around him to do things that they don't agree to do, or take away things so that they don't get mad at him.

It's manipulative, and it makes Richie sick, and one of the rare instances where it's actually his nausea.

He resolves to never use his powers again. Again. Tries to ignore it all costs. Of course it's not that easy. At one point he tries to erase his own memory of his abilities, but it doesn't take.

Richie ignores with a determination, and yet still fails miserably. Tries to ignore everyone else's feelings, but sometimes he just can't. When he knows one of his friends is sad, how can he not want to make that friend feel better? And with his abilities, Richie knows just when to press and prod, and when to leave a subject be. He knows what makes his friends feel better.

By the time high school is over it's gotten so strong that he can actually hear what other people are thinking, and he doesn't even think anything of it until the fifth or sixth time because he's just so used to knowing everything.

_Are my hips too fat?  
Why doesn't he like me?  
Am I gonna grow up to be just like my dad?_

It's enough to drive a person crazy and yet Richie manages. Maybe it's that he was already crazy, at least his friends think so.

Richie feels and hears everyone's concern for him when he decides not to go to college to pursue his comedy, and he lets it get to him. He changes his mind and agrees to apply for one or two colleges in the California area, but says it's only to make everyone else feel less worried. He gets into Stanford. Richie has always had a high IQ, it has nothing to do with being psychic.

The remaining Losers Club all agree to stay in touch as they leave for college, unlike Bev and Ben and Bill, who all failed to return any calls after they had to move away. Richie fully intended to fulfill that that promise, but the problem is that no one else did.

Because Richie is an idiot, he jokingly chose to play hard to get, not calling unless someone else did. Except no one ever did. And he was too much of a coward to call and ask why after that. He doesn't understand it, nothing from when they were last together would suggest that they'd stop talking entirely. Then again it wasn't like that when their other friends left either.

He's twenty one when he comes out. It's 1997, and though he's never seen a single episode of Ellen before, he thinks he might love that woman. Well not in real life, he can kinda tell there's something more than a bit conceited about her, and it seems to be growing, but that's besides the point.

Richie doesn't want to think about the backlash, about the hate, and the cruelty going on. He wants to feel the weight being lifted off her shoulders. And he does. He watches the episode and feels the real woman's emotions as she comes out as her true self. Well, the part that's getting her attacked, not all that bitchiness-

She's not the last. Many other people follow her lead, and Richie feels their joy, and their bravery, and yeah, their fear as well.

He thinks about Derry. All the hate he felt growing up. For awhile it keeps him from saying anything, but Richie gets so fucking jealous of the people who have come out. Finally, he takes all the feelings of hate he got from those town people and screams at them to;

FUCK OFF

He falls on his ass, and loses his breath, but somehow he feels free. He feels as some of the pain numbs and makes a decision.

For the first time since the deadlights, Richie realizes that his powers are simply feeling things secondhand. He wants to experience something for himself. He wants to feel for himself what it's like to come out.

So he does.

It's terrifying, and he gets fired from his standup gig, but Richie does not erase doing it. He stands his ground, gets a job at a gay place, and hey, he's out.

His parents (who decided to leave Derry for vacation time after Richie was financially stable) are supportive, of course they are, and yeah, maybe Richie plants it in their head that they 'always had a hunch' but that doesn't make their reactions any less genuine.

Richie wonders what his friends would think. Well, logically he knows that he probably should refer to people he hasn't spoken to in three years as 'friends', but he feels that they still care for him and each other. Whatever is keeping them from calling, Richie decides that he's not going to call.

He decides to work as a stagehand for a few years, working on comedy behind the scenes. Somehow he ends up working on SNL, and somehow he gets promoted to a performer on SNL.

As time goes on Richie's career grows. He gets the reputation of 'Gay John Mulaney' and soon enough John Mulaney gets the reputation of 'Straight Richie Tozier'.

For a long time Richie worries that he somehow stole his fame with his powers. Then again, fucking Bill and Beverly both rise as stars in their own fame, so maybe it's another curse entirely.

Still, Richie refuses to use his abilities to get ahead. When he stares too long at a painting and is then interrupted by his makeup artist, he hears her think about how Richie is her least favorite customer, and it's tempting to make her think he's the only client she actually likes working for, but he restrains himself, and fires her instead.

He thinks about looking Eddie or Stan or anyone of his old friends up on Facebook, maybe look up a phone number, see if anyone wants to catch up. But every time he comes close, he hears a little voice deep inside him telling him it would only hurt more.

He tries not to think about them. Richie is happy in his life. He has a few boyfriends in those years, a few flings, and a few one night stands. Having sex when you have psychic abilities can.... range, but when he's with the right person it can feel euphoric.

A lot of people hate him, and Richie feels their hate and feels like death, but he's got a lot of support from his fans, and their love is what he focuses on, and that keeps him going. He knows Eddie watches him. He just knows it. He wonders why Eddie doesn't call and say something. His phone hasn't changed, if Eddie really wanted to-

Doesn't matter.

Richie doesn't really know what's going on with those guys, but he knows it has something to do with the supernatural aspects of their hometown. He almost tweets something about knowing Bill when his first movie adaption comes out, but he knows in his soul that he won't understand.

Richie just accepts that he'll probably never see those fuckers again until he gets the call. He was expecting it. He had been sick that day, it came on quickly, and he had to cancel on his show last minute, his manager was pissed but had to hide it. Richie knew his sickness had something to do with his powers, and with his powers' origins. Derry.

Richie is bedridden when he gets the call, and he knows instantly that it's all bad news. He doesn't want to answer but he just has to. He might die if he doesn't answer.

By that point he's too delirious to say anything but a small, "Hi."

"Trashmouth Tozier." A familiar voice says. "It's Mike Hanlon. From Derry."

Suddenly feeling much better Richie jumps up in shock. "Mike!?"

"Something's happened. It's time to come back to Derry. You remember your promise?"

Richie nods, then winces at the head rush. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, Mikey. I just- w-we haven't spoken in years."

"I know." Mike says softly. "Do you remember me?"

Richie blinks. "Of course."

"Yeah, no one else did either."

Mike thinks he was faking it when Richie knew who he was. Quite the compliment really, that Mike thinks he could be so confident in the bullshit he spews through complete confusion.

So the others forgot, huh? He thinks about Eddie. He thinks about Eddie being forced to forget something. Him. Eddie being forced to forget him. Richie shudders.

"Fuck. Yeah, okay. I will be there. Text me the time and place, okay."

"Of course. Thank you." Mike is grateful.

"I did promise." Richie whispers into his phone. Mike is hesitant now.

"Congratulations on coming out-" Richie hangs up.

He stretches, suddenly feeling a lot healthier. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuck my life."

Fuck knows he doesn't want to fight that monster again. The last time around he saw his closest friends die after all. But that's the thing. He realizes now that it wasn't just nightmare fuel, it was prophesy. Those deadlights gave him his psychic powers, so they probably have some sort of insight into the future.

If Richie doesn't go back, what if all that shit happens to them and Richie could have stopped it but didn't? He'd never forgive himself, regardless of whether or not they all totally ghosted him twenty years prior.

He books a plane, and dreads every second leading up to his destination.

He remembers the disgust Eddie felt when he kissed him. Richie tries to close his eyes and feel Eddie's thoughts on the matter now, on sexuality not the kiss that Richie erased from his memory, but can't find it. Too far away.

Richie checks into the Derry Inn when it's completely empty save for a spider or two. Even the staff isn't present and Richie can tell they'll probably never be.

He drives to the Jade of Orient, but when he parks he stays exactly where he is.

Richie knows who's around the corner before he sees them, and when he does he watches as they reunite. He wants to join in on the reunion, but the thing is that Richie is famous. The chances that most, if not all of the idiots in that restaurant know about his sexuality are high.

And he's not afraid of them, he knows that after years living in a more accepting America mixed in with never being assholes in the first place means they're all probably accepting. But Richie's long considered the coming out part of his life over, and he doesn't want to see their reactions at all, no matter how loving. He just wants his sexuality to be a part of him, and a part that doesn't need any special attention.

He waits until they enter, and then waits another five minutes before going in himself. Richie brushes off the host's directions to their private room and pauses outside the door.

Closing his eyes, he searches for what he's looking for. They all know. And they're all planning some supportive bullshit to say to him, which Richie really does appreciate and will hold close to his heart, but he really would rather they act as though absolutely nothing about him is different, except he's forty now, and they can just move on.

Fuck it.

"Well well well, motherfuckers!" Richie barges in to the room.

 _Don't bring up the gay thing. Just don't._ He mentally orders them, and he hates himself for doing it, but they don't bring it up, leaving it as something that they all know, and don't bring up.

Richie promises himself that that would be the only time he does that to them. It's the first time he's used _that_ part of his powers on purpose since coming out to his parents. Unintentionally, however, it's a different story. Sometimes people do things that annoy him and all Richie can think is, 'can you just not?' And they stop. He doesn't love it when that happens, and tries to undo it, or at least make up for the damage he causes. Every four years Richie has to take a vacation in the Bahamas or something to keep from meddling in the presidential election.

Pushing down the guilt, he tries to fool himself into thinking it's all hunky dory for the time being, but Mike is filled with a certain dread and Richie almost looks into his thoughts to figure what the fuck he's so nervous about twice, but reminds himself about the invasion of privacy.

Richie figures it out soon enough. As he knew, everyone else forgot all about Derry and each other after leaving, which he already guessed, but he's more than glad to finally put an end to the two decades long question of where the fuck his best friends went. And apparently, everyone else also forgot about Pennywise.

And then; the fortune cookies. Stan hasn't showed up yet. His mind flashes back to what he saw in the deadlights. Stan's lifeless hand oozing blood.

He throws a few quips in to hide the fact that's he's deeply in thought, but on the inside he's freaking out. But before anything else can happen all hell breaks loose, and Richie immediately recognizes that it's all some shitty illusion, but Eddie is terrified and that messes him up so badly.

They rush out of the restaurant, but Richie is stopped by some kid. He can tell the others are freaked by the kid's admittedly freaky words, but Richie knows it's just a kid, and a fan no less, and takes a picture with him.

Bev tries to call Stan, but Richie knows it's for naught.

"Bathtub." Richie finds himself whispering along with the grieving widow.

He's not quiet enough, and the others look at him, alarm bells ringing in everyone's heads, but for now they all decide to ignore it for the more important matter, but his uncharacteristic silence during this argument freaks them all out a little bit. Thankfully by the time everyone drives back to the inn his word was forgotten by all but one.

Instead of rushing to grab his bags, Richie goes to the bar, pouring a drink himself because no one else is working there.

"I would've thought you'd be the first to leave." Eddie follows him. "You were always so adamant about... leaving." He wants to ask what the fuck is going on with Richie.

"If you wanna ask about that shit with the bathtub, just do it." He sneers.

Eddie sighs. "You knew what happened to Stan."

Richie takes a gulp of vodka. "Yeah. I guess I did."

"The fuck Richie?" Eddie asks. He's not angry per say, just confused and upset by his childhood friend's death, and the thought that Richie had some sort of information on it and didn't share it with them.

"It's not as bad as you think." He promises. Eddie crosses his arms and waits for his explanation. Richie shakes his head. "You remember when I got stuck in those deadlights?"

"Of course." Eddie nods. _How could I forget?_

Richie winces, looking away to keep from hearing any further.

"I-I didn't tell you everything I saw in those fuckers." Richie admits. _I didn't tell you everything those fuckers did to me._

He sees Eddie's back straighten, and knows he is going to believe whatever he says next. It's thrilling, being taken seriously.

"I didn't just see us fighting It again. I saw what would happen if we didn't come back." Richie explains, feeling dreadful but glad that he's finally letting this out. Eddie is nervous too, and Richie can't make it better. "I saw.... everyone die."

"WHAT?!" Eddie explodes. Richie winces. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

_We were supposed to tell each other everything._

_Well I wasn't very good with that._ Richie thinks back almost apologetically.

"I didn't know how!" Richie defends himself. "It was a fucking scary thing for a kid to deal with, so I dealt by not dealing."

That's not a good enough answer for Eddie, but he drops the matter, for now at least, in favor of figuring this out. "Okay, you saw all of us die." Eddie repeats.

"He what?" They turn and see Bev standing at the top of the steps, Ben behind her.

"Wait, how do know It wasn't just messing with you?" Ben asks after they explain the situation.

"I don't know." Richie shrugs, not making eye contact with anyone. "Just a bitchy feeling, I guess."

"So we might die if we leave?" Bev says fretfully. "Fuck."

"We're cursed." Richie tells them. "It's why you forgot each other." Only Eddie notices his word choice. "We leave we die, we stay we probably die." Only probably, Richie knows.

"Fucking curses."

They agree to follow Mike, citing Richie's vision as a main reason why. Mike ponders Richie's recent behavior, and Richie wishes he wouldn't but refuses to make him stop. He never realized how obvious he could be before now. He made it his life goal at fourteen to keep from touching anybody. He grew up in Derry, and came out of the closet three years later. And know they all know what he saw in the Deadlights.

Of course a smart person like Mike would be able to see through his bullshit eventually. Across the room, Richie's eyes meets Mike's.

 _When you came out I wanted to be there for you so badly._ Mike thinks _. I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you for being so brave. How glad I am that you got out of this town._

Richie has to keep from screaming, because he did remember Mike, and would have been happy with as little as a fucking phone call. But Mike had no way of knowing Richie remembered. And all things considered he had more important matters to tend to. _I'd've appreciated it. But Mike, you stayed in this fucking town. That is brave._

Mike fills with surprise, and utter bewilderment. Richie blinks. He didn't.... Mike gapes. Richie's eyes flicker to the side and then back to Mike. _Shit. This is your imagination, btw. Obviously. You're probably freaking Real Me out._

He sees Mike snap out it, let's Mike justify that moment in the same way Richie would have as a child.

So that's new.

Fuck, it's this fucking town. Coming back here is growing his powers. Fan-fucking-tastic! Richie does not need to deal with any more of this bullshit.

And why doesn't he want to tell his friends? As a child it was just a long string of pure denial keeping him from telling them. To be fair, Richie realized it was true at fifteen, but he hoped so badly that ignoring and denying would fix it. The lies he told himself didn't go away until he started wanting to come out. Plus there were other things, like what he did to get Bev sent to Portland, or to erase Eddie's memory that kept him from saying anything. He didn't want to look like some evil bad guy in his friends' eyes. And besides, they were all putting the summer of '89 behind them, or that was what it seemed to Richie. In hindsight, they must just been forgetting.

And then there's now. And as depressing as it is, the sad truth is that Richie just doesn't trust anyone else with his secret. He loves them and they love him, but Richie learned young that some secrets are better off staying his and his alone. All he's ever done for so long is keep secrets. He doesn't know how to change that.

Thankfully, Richie doesn't have to feel afraid of responding to any of his friend's thoughts, at least for the time being. They all go out into the town separately, each trying to come up with the forgotten thing that haunted them into adulthood.

Richie's not sure where to start considering he never actually forgot, but he does what he always does when he doesn't know what to do and follows his powers.

That fucking arcade.

It's so strong. He sees it. He sees himself, thirteen years old. He sees himself playing with Bowers' cousin, pretty much blushing as he suggests they play some more. Just a naive child with a baby crush. That's all. He wasn't hurting anyone, he didn't do anything evil. He had just been a kid with a crush, nothing more, nothing less. Why was that so awful?

Richie watches as the Bowers Gang chases him out of the arcade and shudders. It was strange to think that if they had just left him alone he would have never gotten kidnapped by Pennywise, and he'd have never gotten his abilities. And as much of a headache as his abilities were, he can't imagine life without them. He just didn't know how he'd have processed.

It was as though Richie was always abnormal. Fuck, he barely remembers not having his abilities, though obviously there was a point before he used his powers. The advantage it gave him over other still scared him, but he still can't imagine not having them.

And maybe he overused them on matters that don't require someone else's consent. Like to go and get the literal token. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. 

He follows them out to that ditch and watches as Pennywise shows up to take him. But before it shows him getting kidnapped the memory of Pennywise turns around to taunt him. Richie immediately runs away, ignoring his screams, feeling the horror that would come if he stayed.

When he gets back to the Inn, Richie and Eddie find solace in each other. It's nice. He missed Eddie so much and he revels in how easily they fall back into old patterns. Eddie does too, he just missed Richie subconsciously.

It's all nice until Richie lets his head slip and hears it.

_You kept our deaths a secret. You kept your sexuality a secret. Did I even know you at all?_

_Of course you did!_ Richie thinks before, you know, thinking.

Shock floods through Eddie _. What?_

_Fuck._

"Richie." Eddie breathes.

"Okay, so I kept a few secrets from you." Richie admits.

Finally, finally, he spills his gut. He tells Eddie all about his powers, and how they've grown, how they helped him with his sexuality, the things he's done that Richie still regrets.

He lifts the block on talking about his sexuality and easily gives him back the memory of that sleepover, apologizing deeply.

(Yeah, he knows how to do that. So maybe Richie took away the memory of an awkward fart or accidental trip from an innocent bystander's memory without thinking. He undid it!)

"Do you hate me?" He asks hesitantly.

"Wouldn't you know." Eddie asks quietly. No then. The answer is no. Eddie feels shocked, scared, more than a little confused, and hurt, but also understanding.

"Richie, how did you- Trashmouth Tozier is shockingly good at keeping his mouth shut." Eddie says, and Richie has to agree. "Why didn't you tell anyone? About you- your powers." _Not about how you felt about me._

"At first; denial. Then.... I don't know, we were all moving on from It.... no you guys were forgetting It, I just knew you weren't thinking about it and assumed.... I guess I didn't want to disrupt things."

"With your superpowers?" Eddie scoffs. "Dude, do you know how awesome that would have been in high school? That would've been the best thing that ever happened to us." Richie laughs.

"About the other thing-" Richie starts.

"You don't have to say anything." Eddie assures him. "You were a teenager, you did it by accident, you know how freaked out I was, if I was in your position I wouldn't have been jumping for chances to return my memories either."

"Damn, Spaghetti, you're making all my excuses for me." Richie smiles. And even though he knows the answer and doesn't want to ruin the moment, he asks. "You don't want to talk about-"

"No." Eddie immediately interrupts him, and Richie's smile dips.

Fuck, Eddie is re-falling in love with him, and he's re-falling for Eddie. Except only now does Eddie knows what it is.

Richie pushes down the thoughts of excitement. He can't get his hopes up. Eddie still doesn't know, and it's not his place to tell him his own sexuality.... even if he does know it.

"I think you should tell the others that you're a psychic, and you definitely need to lift whatever block you put on talking about it.... maybe just telling them you don't want to talk about it would be better?" Eddie suggests. "It's all up to you, Rich. Tell when you're ready, but you know we're not gonna think you're a freak or something."

"It just feels like I have some shitty control over you guys." Richie admits. "Like I know things that you guys don't tell me about, and you guys have a right to your own secrets, but when something's wrong with people I care about, I want to fix it, you know?"

Eddie hums, and Richie strains trying to not read into his head at this moment. "You know, I don't think I'd have been this responsible if I was in your shoes."

Richie shrugs, unused to being referred to as 'responsible'. "Can't say I blame you. If I had your mother I'd put it in her head that she needed to lock herself on a basement. Oh!" Richie groans. "Well I have regrets!"

Eddie shrugs. "No harm done."

"I should also let my parents know they haven't been aware of my sexuality since we were kids."

Eddie doesn't see that as that big a deal, but agrees anyway because it seems like progress. Richie lets himself feel good about the moment, but then his stomach turns.

"Richie?" Eddie says slowly. His gaze drifts to the door and Eddie turns to see what he's looking at. "What's wrong?"

Richie squints. ".... Henry Bowers?"

"What?" Eddie asks.

"Henry Bowers is upstairs." Richie tells him, they look at each other in fear.

"Are you sure you aren't wrong?" Eddie suggests, and Richie almost scoffs because he hasn't been wrong about what his instincts say since the eighties on the account of of being a fucking psychic.

He walks towards the door, walking through with Eddie hot on his heels. In the lobby, Ben and Bev are deep in conversation, stopping to ask them what's going on.

"Richie, wait! Don't go up there!" Eddie grabs his wrist to keep him from following his trail, but all Richie can feel is his head still on the fact that Richie used to want to kiss him.

He yanks it back. "Don't be stupid, I'm not going up there!"

"Someone wanna tell us what's going on?" Bev demands, walking up to them. Richie holds up a hand, keeping her from stepping closer to the staircase. Upstairs, Bowers is making his way out of Eddie's bathroom, searching for blood.

"Just.... He's coming." Richie tells her. He turns to face the group as a whole. "We should leave."

"Who's coming?!" Ben asks, growing frantic. "Richie you're not making any sense!"

"Hen-" Richie opens his mouth to answer, but Bowers is already there. "Oh shit."

Bowers jumps out into their line of sight, knife in hand and howling animalistically. The other three shriek as Richie grabs both Eddie and Bev by their arms and pulling them towards the exit with Ben in tow as Bowers descends down the steps.

They rush to a common car and drive out of there, terror gripping all of them, but ultimately they are unhurt. They're all exhausted as Eddie rests his forehead on the window glass and Bev pulls out a cigarette. Richie has to refrain from gagging at the crap in that thing. To his displeasure, he feels as Bev and Ben realize the same thing.

"Richie...." Bev says slowly.

"Yeah..."

"How did you know Bowers was there?"

"Oh, I'm psychic by the way." Richie says nonchalantly. "Deadlights thing."

They stare at Richie incredulously. He shrugs. Bev takes another smoke. "He's psychic, Ben."

"That explains so much." Ben nods to himself, and Richie can feel the puzzle pieces in his head forming one whole picture. They all give him 'WTF' looks. But Richie does have to give him this; He does not get surprised often, so it's always nice when he, you know, is.

"That was also what he was gonna say about me being gay." Richie points out, and Ben just nods. And then Richie feels something else. A spike in his chest. They look at him worriedly. "Drive to the library! He's going after Mike."

Ben and Bev stare at him but Eddie impatiently screeches, "You heard the man, go!"

It becomes increasingly clear that they won't make it in time as Richie feels Mike's chances of making it grow bleaker and bleaker. He has another migraine, and behind his eyes he can see Bowers hacking the shit out of Mike.

Richie closes his eyes, trying to throw the vision out the car window somehow, but can't. He wishes Bowers would just fucking die. They make it to the library, hoping for the best, and though Richie expects the worst, he knows as they reach half a mile radius that it's going to be okay.

A heart attack. Henry Bowers died from a heart attack just when he was about to kill someone. Convenient. Too convenient.

"You don't think...." Richie says in horror. He leaves what else unsaid, but everyone gets it.

"If so, you still saved Mike!" Eddie immediately tries to assure him. "That makes you a hero, Richie! A superhero." Bev and Ben nod in agreement.

Mike is a bit confused. Well, he has a good enough idea of what they're talking about, but sometimes confirmation is too important. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"The deadlights gave me superpowers." Richie shrugs. "You're not very surprised." It's not a question.

"The Cherokees had a lot of lore on those things." Mike nods. "And you've always been kind of weird."

"Oh that wasn't a deadlights thing." Eddie cuts in. Richie feels a lot better about committing a murder, but soon his powers kick in again, and Eddie notices. "What? What now?! There's always something life threatening with you, isn't there?"

"It's been a scary-ass day!" Richie defends himself. "Anyways, Bill is heading to Neibolt alone."

"Okay, seriously we need to talk about-" Bev starts but then Richie's words sink in. "What!?"

They all race after him, getting there in he nick of time, just before Bill can enter alone. They snap Bill out of his own stupidity and Bill is reminded of something Richie said when they were children. He instantly knows what he means, but still mocks Bill with other childhood phrases, knowing he's still unaware of Richie's abilities.

They set up the ritual, but something is off.

"It won't work." Richie tells them. They all look at him like he's crazy.

"What do you mean it won't work?" Eddie asks. "It has to work! Why else would we have gotten all this shit from our childhoods?"

"I don't know!" Richie insists, turning to Mike. "How far did the Native Americans get in the ritual before choking?" Mike looks like a deer caught in headlights and Richie realizes he never verbally told them about the Cherokee's flop.

"Mike, what is he talking about?" Bev asks dangerously.

Mike feels absolutely awful. "The first time this ceremony was performed by the Native Americans, it failed and they were all killed."

"No! It will work, it just hasn't before." Richie assures them. "I figured we were all on the same page about that. I mean, It is still around, isn't he? That means he hasn't been killed before."

"That's besides the point." Eddie says, a little embarrassed to be out logic-ed by Richie. "You just said it wouldn't work."

"It still can!" Richie protests.

It falls on deaf ears, everyone breaking into a loud argument all at once. That's when Richie feels it. That terrible, terrible it.

It is waiting.

"There's no time for this!" Richie shouts desperately. "We need to perform the ritual now."

"Is it gonna work?" Eddie asks, feeling angry.

"Not at first, but we still need to do it!" Richie insists. "It's hard to explain, I don't really understand, but we won't have time for it later. I just need you to trust me!"

"You say it won't work, but that we still have to do it!" Eddie shoots back. "How can you even-"

It is hungry.

"JUST GET IN THE CIRCLE!!!" Richie screams, but then winces when they immediately drop their bickering and get in their ritual. "Oh sorry! Sorry, I just-" 

They stop in an instant, still quiet, staring at him wildly.

"Sorry." Richie repeats sheepishly. "Please get in the ritual circle because I think it's important for later?"

"Holy shit, he really is psychic." Bev huffs, Richie's correct predictions from earlier having not been enough for her. 

"What?" Bill asks, but Richie doesn't want to focus on him right now.

"It's really important we do the bullshit ritual?" Eddie asks softy, and Richie nods. "Okay, then. I believe you."

As Richie knew it would, the Ritual fails, and Pennywise attacks. At the last moment Richie screams for them to not split up but they don't listen.

He and Eddie end up together. Richie tries to avoid the traps, but It is more powerful than him. At random points things appear to scare the shit out of them. The three doors from his childhood appear, and Richie realizes that every one of them had something scary behind them.

Finally though Richie feels suddenly light headed as he feels something explode inside him. 

"Richie?" Eddie asks frantically as Richie falls to his knees. "What is it?" Eddie pulls him up and supports him in his daze.

"Deadlights." Richie whispers. Grabbing Eddie's hand, Richie pulls him towards their friends, who were in danger.

There is Bev, who hangs in the air. Richie wonders if he looked like that when he was in that place. And if his friends were as scared for him as they are for her. 

Eddie sees, and Richie knows exactly what he wants to do, and though it kills him he lets Eddie rush to throw the spear through Pennywise, but is quick to get to Eddie and pull him back into the shadows as Ben rushes to Bev's side. 

Richie can feel when Bev wakes up to Ben's kiss, and can almost feel as they recount words that mean so much to both of them to each other.

His head is dazed as he senses the light inside of Bev, the same light that has been inside of Richie since he was thirteen years old. Eddie is excited, he thinks he killed It. He didn't. He knows it before the Spider Pennywise lifts his leg.

"NO!" He screams, but Bev is already rolling Ben out of the way. Richie sighs in relief as they get up together and get to safety. Unfortunately, his scream made It take notice of him. 

He backs up before It can attack him, pushing Eddie back with him, and then he pushes Eddie to the side as his back hits the wall, or stone, or whatever is holding up this place he and Eddie have taken hiding in.

The leg is approaching him quickly and Richie just needs everything to _stop._

And it does. 

Everything freezes. It's all a daze. Richie looks around. Eddie isn't moving, frozen mid-scream. He feels a scream rise up in his throat as he slumps onto his ass. Okay. Okay then. Of course, he walks out of the way of the monster leg.

Okay, just undo it. Undo it. UNDO IT! Richie feels like something exploded inside his head, and then he feels something. A memory maybe. Something from deep inside of Richie.

"This is new." Richie points out, his back to the projection.

"We're really powerful." Little Him says.

Richie shrugs. "I guess. It gave us courage you know."

"We're gay?" He realizes this memory is naive. Perhaps he knows about what follow in the rest of Richie's life, but this a photograph of his past ignorance. 

"We are." Finally, Richie turns around and faces his thirteen year old self.

"Then I think being powerful can come in handy." His younger points out. "I used to dream about being powerful. I don't see what the problem is."

"It's not that simple." Richie hums. "It never felt fair, you know? Everyone else has to deal with the world's bullshit by themselves. Is it really fair I get a shortcut?"

Little Richie shrugs, almost thoughtful. "Maybe not, but some gifts are just gifts. What is the one thing you want that's not.... creepy or anything."

Richie hums, standing up. The illusion, or forgotten memory, or whatever that was dissipates behind him, but he's not gone, he's still in Richie.

There's a beat, and then standing right in front of him is a familiar grown man Richie hasn't seen in awhile.

"Richie." Stan whispers. Immediately Richie surges forward and hits him spare in the jaw. "Ow! What was that for!?"

"Dying on me, Uris!" Richie bites. He crosses his arms. "I didn't even get to see you again after twenty years."

"Well, we did get to see each other again, didn't we?"

"You didn't know that!" Richie shoots back. "And don't pretend you did! I know for a fact you didn't suspect anything from me about having psychic abilities!"

It's strange. Richie can't feel Stan's emotions. Maybe it's a ghost thing. But he does see the look of shock in Stan's wide eyes. "You have psychic abilities, Richie?"

"Yeah...." Richie nods. "I should get the fuck out of this town before I become fucking omnipotent. I really don't have time for that." Stan snorts.

His back goes rigid as he feels a shine on his back. He tries to turn around but it's too bright and he flinches away from the light. It doesn't burn Stan though. In fact he looks into the light, with a strange look on his face that Richie can't name without his powers.

"What's that light?" Stan asks, but Richie doesn't need his powers to know that he has a good guess. Richie knows though. 

"Stan." Richie looks at him softly. "If you go I don't think I can reach you again. But I think you need to go."

Stan nods. Fuck Richie just got to say hello again, and now he has to say goodbye. He regrets not reaching out to Stan for years, even with his powers warning him not to.

"Tell them I love them all." Stan says. "Tell them I'm sorry."

"We love you too." Richie raises his arms and he and Stan hug for the last time until it's Richie's time.

"Duck when you go back." Stan tells him over his shoulder. 

Richie frowns. "What?" 

"Duck when you go back!" 

"Oh!"

Richie returns from his head, not even a second passing in the real world, and he ducks, narrowly avoiding death.

Eddie holds his hand as they run out of the way, and Richie gasps as he realizes that was the final challenge. They all overcame something. Mike is still a Loser despite his lies, Bill has let go of the guilt he's held onto for so long, Ben has finally admitted his feelings, Bev has let herself be loved by a man who won't hurt her, Richie has finally come to term with his powers, and Eddie has learned how to take risks. The ritual will work. But there's one missing key. 

Looking at Eddie, Richie sees something reminiscent of the feelings Eddie shared for him in their youth. Not exactly the love, though that is still there, but something of that structure. There is something in his subconscious, something he hasn't put too much thought into, something vital that just hasn't etched it's way into consciousness.

"You know." Richie realizes. "You know how to defeat It. You just don't know that you know."

Eddie pauses, looking dazed. Ghosting over his subconscious, Richie finds a clue. "Leper?"

Richie can almost see a lightbulb go off above him. Bingo.

Their fears conquered, the ritual does its magic and the Losers Club bullies Pennywise to death. Richie immediately knows that the house is going to fall before they give the final insult and screams at everyone to run out.

After all is said and done, Richie comes up to give Beverly a hug, knowing she needs it, and maybe he needs it too.

"You think I'm gonna be like you?" Bev asks, holding on tight.

"I don't know. I don't see why you wouldn't have anything happen to you when it happened to me. Unless the deadlights are totally sexist." Richie shrugs, pulling back to look at her, but still holding her by her shoulders. "It comes in handy sometimes, other times it's a pain in ass because of morals or whatever. If you don't want to deal with that shit, you might wanna mosey on out of here. Then again, it took me like a year to notice I wasn't normal anyway, so you should be fine. Unless it's a puberty thing! And since you clearly aren't going through that you're probably fucked. Sorry, Bev."

Bev blinks at him, before snorting.

"What are you talking about?" Bill asks. “And what were you talking about with the ritual?”

"Oh, I'm psychic." Richie shrugs. 

They clean off at the Quarry, Ben and Bev finally getting it together and making it official. He feels Bill's disappointment, and pats his back in comfort.

 _I can make you hurt less if you want me to._ Bill looks at him with eyes and Richie just nods. _Just respond by thinking._

_Uh... I appreciate it, man. But I think dealing with it would be better._

Richie and Bill share a look, Richie feeling the small, sad acceptance. He'll get better soon enough. He smiles, but his mood is shifted, just a bit. Not necessarily in a bad way, just in a different way. He feels Eddie's eyes on him. He feels desire on him, and a thoughtfulness.

Back at the inn Richie packs his bags. They've made an arrangement, Richie will leave with Eddie, and if see if Eddie forgets. If he does, Richie will try and restore his memories. 

"You know it does make sense." Eddie says sitting on his bed. Richie knows what and closes his eyes. "You were always so... affectionate."

 _Cute! Cute! Cute!_ His child voice rings in their ears.

Eddie looks at him strangely. "That you?"

"Sorry." Richie says sheepishly. "It just kind of happens sometimes. They're growing now that I'm in Derry. I'm normally much better at handling them, ai."

"No, you're not." Eddie says unimpressed.

"No, I'm not." Richie agrees.

"Fit the moment though." Eddie gave him an appreciative nod. "Actually, I want you to read my mind. Or.... me. Read me."

Richie gawk at him, repeating, "Read you?"

Eddie nods. "I give you permission. I want you to read my mind."

Richie blinks in shock, but Eddie is sure of himself, and so Richie takes a deep breath and rests a hand over Eddie's. What he feels is.... Fuck.

 _I can't think of words, just feel it_.

"Eddie?" Richie asks unsurely, even though he feels the recognition of feelings within Eddie.

Eddie leans forward.

It's a sloppy kiss, all beard burn and tongue and fuck Eddie is a rough kisser, but he's having a make-out session with Eddie Kaspbrak, this is the best thing that's ever happened to him. And Richie feels it. He feels how much Eddie wants it.

"Really?" He asks anyway.

"Do your powers just not work sometimes?" Eddie shakes his head. Then he surges forward again before he can respond, and Richie has his answer.

As Richie noted before, having sex as a psychic could end up being really fucking euphoric. He's never gotten to that state by just making out though.

He's giddy for hours on end afterwards, reaching into the next day, even as Eddie leaves his side to go and look up the divorcing process after Richie explains that psychic powers do not give him random knowledge on relevant topics.

With Eddie gone, Richie is free to dorkily victory dance as he pleases. He stops when he feels Bev only ten feet away, and quickly turns off the music.

"Oh! Did you get superpowers?" Richie asks. He keeps his tone light to ease her in. The possibility of getting psychic abilities hangs over her. How does one deal with maybe developing powers? There are no self-help books to deal with this. At least Richie was caught by surprise, Bev is simultaneously dreading/anticipating them, and Richie knows the anticipation is just her naivety taking over. "You might already, normally I could see you coming down here from upstairs. Maybe that's the first stage of the deadlight powers."

He's smiling, but Bev doesn't smile back. She stares deep at him and Richie realizes what's going on.

"Bev." He whispers.

"You called CPS, didn't you?"

Richie knows what she's talking about but still says. "What?"

"Don't pretend you don't know." Bev shakes her head, her eyes wet. Fear, but sad. Sad fear. "You know."

"I'm sorry." He whispers, even though she doesn't feel mad, he's mad at himself for sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

"Don't be." Bev smiles shakily. Sorrow. Gratitude. Love. She lifts trembling arms and wraps around him. "Thank you."

Richie hugs back.

Later, Richie recounts every secret that he ever kept without them knowing, at their prodding of course. "Um, there was also that time Bill totally had that crush on the librarian, who was in her sixties but she looked remarkably young for her age. Took good care of herself out of insecurity. The only reason I knew was.... you know."

They all laugh, and Richie feels the genuinity in their happy, breezy smiles. Even if the majority of them forgot all about It, a weight has been lifted off all of their shoulders. It feels so good to be around the people he loves. When he told them what Stan said they all cried, but at least they were together.

 **Richie Tozier ✔ @Trashmouth Tozier**  
BTW, I'm a psychic. I'm a gay psychic. That cool? Cool.

“You know no one’s gonna take that seriously right?” Eddie laughs.

”Doesn’t matter.” Richie shrugs. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” 

”No.” Eddie says unimpressed. “But that’s the inside joke.”

**Author's Note:**

> WOW! Okay I have like seven unfinished fics written after a few months. For this, I just wrote 10k words in the span of five days.
> 
> (Also, I might have edited some things given some other things coming to light.)


End file.
